Dispensing nozzle hold-open catch



Sept- 20, 1966 M. l.. CARDER ETAL 3,273,609

DISPENSING NOZZLE HOLD-OPEN CATCH Filed Aug. 24, 1964 r FIGlf/ a United States Patent O 3,273,669 DISPENSING NOZZLE HOLD-UPEN CATCH Mervin L. Cartier and Hazel L. Sutcliie, Kirkwood, Mo., assignors to Husky Corporation, Kirkwood, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Aug. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 391,695 15 Claims. (Cl. 141-206) The invention relates to automatic shut-off nozzles of the general type used on lfuel pumps in iilling stations, which are utilized by the operators inserting the nozzle into a motor vehicle fuel tank, opening the nozzle valve by lifting a lever and latching the lever in a selected valveopen position to permit the operator to perform `other duties while the tank is being flled. When the tank fuel level reaches the discharge end of the nozzle, the nozzle valve closes automatically. 'Nozzles of this general type are described in United States Patents 2,528,747, 2,283,- 240 and 3,020,940.

The objects of this invention are to simplify and make more effective the operation of nozzles now in use; to avoid the projection of mechanism parts from the lever guard, which can get damaged easily in daily use, injure the attendants hand or tear his clothing; to -avoid interference Kwith hose connections to the nozzle; to avoid replacement due to b-reakage or wear of movable lever latching parts; to make it unnecessary to lift the lever to one side or the other to rest on projections at the rear of the lever guard (this causes the operator to run over a denite amount of gas ordered by the customer because the lever catches on projections); to provide a nozzle capable of one hand operation; to provide lever latch means which applies purely 4axial forces to the vacuum contro-l plunger, its latching means and valve stem whereby this device will cause the nozzle Ato shut off on slow or faulty pumps whereas the devices now in use may not shut off under such conditions, since it exerts nonaxial pressure on these parts and thus it takes more p-ressure to shut off; and to provide a nozzle control which exerts no pressure at the rear end of the lever to cause distort-ion of `same because of large bending moment.

The foregoing and additional more detailed objects and advantages are achieved by the device described hereinafter and illustra-ted in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side View, partially sectionalized, of a nozzle embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the nozzle showing the lever in a latched position.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are transverse sectional views along lines 3 3 and 4-4 respectively of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is 4a top view of the valve stem engaging portion of the lever, taken along line 5 5 o-f FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a vertical -sectional View along line 6--6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary View showing a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view along line 8 8 of FIG. 7.

The nozzle includes a rigid body lhaving an inlet 1, a handle 3, a supply valve housing `5, vacuum control housing 7, and a discharge spout 9. A `lever guard 11 is rigidly secured to the housing. Housing 5 includes a seat y13 for valve disc .'15 which has a downwardly extending stem y17 passing through and projecting from the bottom of the housing. Valve disc 15 is biased against its seat 13 and stem 17 is urged downwardly by compression spring 19.

For raising stem 17 `so as to unseat valve disc 15 and permit fuel to flow thro-ugh the nozzle, operating `lever ICC 21 is fulcrumed at 23 to 4a plunger 25 slidably mounted in housing 7 and extends rearwardly therefrom. beneath valve stem 17 toward the other end of the guard 1&1 where its tip is received between the spaced sidewalls thereof. A coil spring 24 compressed between the lower end of housing 5 and lever 21 urges the lever downwardly when the lever is released.

Plunger 25, to which lever 21 is fulcrumed, is biased upwardly by a coil spring 27 seated on a shoulder 2'9 at the bottom of housing 7 and is locke-d in its uppermost position by latch 31 controlled by atmospheric pressure in diaphragm chamber 33 so that manu-al lifting of the arched right hand end portion 35 of lever 21 causes the lever to engage valve stem 17 and open the valve, permitting fuel to ow thro-ugh the nozzle and out of spout 9. When fuel in the tank being -fliled rises to the level of air inlet 36 in the spout, the resulting partial vacuum in chamber 313 causes latch 31 to release plunger 25 and permit the left hand end of the lever to be urge-d downwardly by the act-ion lof sp-ring 19 through valve I15 and stem 17 until valve 15 is seated, thus, shutting off the flow of fuel through the nozzle.

To make it possible for the operator to attend to other duties while filling a tank, the nozzle is provided with means whereby after inserting the nozzle in the tank and lifting the lever to open the valve the operator may temporarily secure the lever in selecte-d valve-open positions, depending on the desired rate of dow, without interfering with the vacuum-controlled :automatic shut-olf feature referred to above. For this purpose la ratchet arm 37 is freely pivotally connected to the lever on an axis transverse thereof at 39, in the region of the intersection of the straight and arched portions of the lever, and the free end of arm 37 rests on the bottom of guard 11. The upper surface 41 of arm 37 is provided with ia series of spaced grooves 43 and its sides are raised to provide a lguide for a cooperating pawl 45. Pawl 45 is piv-oted to the left hand leg of the arched portion 35 of ythe lever -and mounts, on its underside, a flat spring 46 norm-ally engaging the underside of the lever so as to oppose and prevent undesired engagement of the outer end of pawl 45 with grooves 43 of the ratchet arm 37. The lever can -be set at desired valve -opening positions by manually engaging pawl 45 with a selected ratchet groove 43. This is done by .lifting the lever with the lingers of the right hand and pushing pawl 45 along the surface of arm 37 with the index iinger until the pawl drops into the desired :groove where it will be, in effect, hooked, by engagement with the steep right hand wall of the selected groove.

When fuel in the tank reaches the level of inlet 317, thereby causing release of plunger 25, spring 19 causes downward movement of the left'hand end of lever 21, which begins a slight eounterclockwise rotation about pivot 39. Simultaneously with the removal of lever pressure from valve stem 17, spring 19 urges valve disc 15 against its seat 13, shutting off the ow of fuel through the nozzle. As the lever rotates about p-ivot 319, it lifts pawl 45 out of the ratchet groove 43 and pawl spring 46 pfushes pawl 45 rearwardly, i.e., to the right yas viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, clear of ratchet grooves '43.

In order to prevent excessive Wear on -the lever where it engages valve stem 17, the lever is :formed with ya circular groove 49 at this point, as best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, and a replaceable disc 51 of wear resistant metal with a depending annular rim 52 to receive boss 49 `and an annular shoulder 53 on its upper periphery to receive the base of spring 24, is positioned on the lever with rim 52 received within groove 49.

`Operation of the device is as follows: The operator inserts spout 9 into the tank to be filled, lifts lever 21 by its .arched portion 35, and with his index linger -pushes pawl 45 into engagement with a selected groove 43, as shown in FIG. 2, depending upon the desired rate of flow from the nozzle. This opens valve 15, and permits fuel to flow through the nozzle into the tank. When the fuel level in the tank reaches air inlet '36, the resultant vacuum in chamber 33 releases plunger Z5 for downward movement, permitting spring 19 to initiate counterclock- Wise movement of lever 21 about its pivotal connection 39 to ratchet arm 37 and to urge valve 15 to its `seated position, shutting off the flow of fuel to the tank. This lifts pawl 45 out of the selected groove 43, and spring 46 pushes the pawl clear of the ratchet grooves.

In conventional latches for automatic shut-olf nozzles, the lever is latched at its rear end by a friction type latch, release being eiected by substantial downward movement of the vacuum controlled plunger sufficient to relieve the lever of pressure by the valve spring acting on the lever through the valve stem. During this movement, the forward end of the lever pivots about its rear end which is engaged with the latch, so that, as the plunger moves downwardly, it is also caused to move nonaxially, fore and aft, about the a-rc described by the forward end of the lever. This produces corresponding wear on the plunger, eventually changing it from a circular to a substantially elliptical cross-section.

In the present construction, on the other hand (referring rst to FIG. 2), as soon -as fulcrum plunger 25 is released, the pressure exerted on lever 35 by valve stem 17 causes the lever to pivot slightly about ratchet arm pivot 39, and this releases pawl 45 from engagement with the ratchet, thereby permitting the lever to drop to the position shown in FIG. l, and permitting spring 19 to close valve 15. Release of the lever is thus accomplished faster and with much less axial movement of plunger than would be required in the conventional construction. The reduced axial movement of plunger 25 prior to release of the lever latch, and the consequent reduction in arcuate movement of its lower end, minimizes the application of nonaxial forces to the plunger, and eliminates the elliptical wear of the plunger resulting from such forces.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is identical to the rst embodiment except for the construction of the ratchet arm and pawl. In this embodiment, ratchet arm 57 is pivoted to lever 21 at 59 and its upper surface 61 is grooved at 63, and pawl 65 is pivoted at 67 to the .arched portion 35 of lever 21. For preventing undesired engagement of pawl 65 with ratchet grooves 63, ratchet arm 57 is centrally slotted as at 69 and is formed with a tongue-like spring 71 extending into the slot, with its upper surface at yand ilush with upper surface -61 of arm 57. Because of the upward bias exerted against pawl 65 by spring 71, manual pressure on pawl 65 is required to seat it in the ratchet grooves 63, in which it will remain hooked until release of plunger 25 and consequent rotation of lever 21 about the ratchet arm pivoted, as described above.

Variations in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of such modications as come within the scope of the appended claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic shut-oft" nozzle for delivering liquid to a tank, comprising a body having a liquid conduit therethrough, a discharge spout, a control valve in the conduit, a spring urging said valve into `closed position, a manually operable lever for opposing the thrust of said spring and thereby opening said valve, a fulcrum for said lever carried by said body and permitted to be released for movement away from said body when the tank is iilled, guard means rigid with said body and disposed on the opposite side of said lever from said valve, a ratchet arm pivoted to a portion of said lever remote from said fulcrum and supported at its free end on a portion of said structure, a pawl pivoted to a portion of said lever more remote from said fulcrum than said ratchet arm pivot and having its free end selectively engageable with said ratchet arm, spring means interposed -between said body and said lever intermediate said fulcrum and said ratchet larm pivot and biasing said lever away from said valve spring opposing position whereby, when said fulcrum is released, to cause sai-d lever to pivot about said ratchet arm pivot and lift said pawl out of hooked engagement with said ratchet.

2. An automatic shut-olf nozzle according to claim 1 including means preventing undesired engagement of said pawl and ratchet.

3. An automatic shut-off nozzle for delivering liquid to a tank, comprising a body having a liquid conduit therethrough, a discharge spout, a control valve in the conduit, a spring urging said valve into closed position, a manually operable lever for opposing the thrust of said spring and thereby opening said valve, a lever guard rigidly secured to said body and having a portion on the opposite side of said lever from said body, a fulcrum for said lever carried by said 4body and permitted to be released for movement away from said body when the tank is filled, the portion of said lever adjacent said fulcrum being substantially normal to the direction of said spring thrust and a portion remote therefrom being substantially parallel to said spring thrust, a ratchet arm pivoted to said lever in the region of the merger of said adjacent and remote portions thereof and supported at its free end on said guard portion, a pawl pivoted to said remote portion of said lever and having its free end selectively engageable with said ratchet arm, spring means interposed between said -body and said adjacent portion of said lever and biasing said lever away from said valve spring opposing position whereby, when said fulcrum is released, to cause said lever to pivot about said ratchet arm pivot and lift said pawl out of hooked engagement with said ratchet.

4. An automatic shut-off nozzle .according to claim 2 including resilient means opposing engagement of said pawl and ratchet.

5. An automatic shut-oft` nozzle according to claim 4 in which said resilient means is interposed between said pawl and said lever.

6. An automatic shut-olf nozzle according to claim 5 in which said resiilent means comprises a ilat spring secured to one surface of said pawl and engageable with the adjacent surface of said lever.

7. An automatic shut-off nozzle according to claim 4 in which said resilient means is mounted on said ratchet arm.

8. An automatic shut-off nozzle according to claim 7 in which said resilient means comprises a substantially fiat spring normally flush with the grooved surface of said ratchet arm and adapted to be depressed by said pawl when the latter is engaged with a ratchet groove.

9. An automatic shut-off nozzle according to claim 3 in which said valve has a stern and said spring means comprises a coil spring, said lever mounting a wear resisting element in seating engagement with said coil spring and engageable with said valve stern.

10. An automatic shut-off nozzle according to claim 9 in which said wear Vresisting element is a disk with a peripheral rim on its lever-engaging side and a peripheral shoulder on its spring-engaging side for seating engagement with said spring.

11. An operating lever assembly for an automatic shut-olf nozzle comprising a lever having fulcrum forming means adjacent one end (and hand grip means at the other), a ratchet arm pivoted to said lever remote from said fulcrum, a pawl pivoted to said lever at a more remote point from the fulcrum and having its free end selectively engageable with said ratchet arm, and resilient means opposing engagement of said pawl and ratchet arm.

12. An operating lever assembly according to claim 11 in which said resilient means is interposed between said pawl and said lever.

13. An operating lever assembly according to claim 12 lin which said resilient means comprises a flat spring secured to one surface of said pawl and engageable with the Iadjacent surface of said lever.

14. An operating lever assembly according to claim 11 in which said resilient means is mounted on said ratchet arm.

15. An operating lever according to claim 14 in which said resilient means comprises a substantially flat spring normally ush with the grooved surface of said ratchet arm and adapted to be depressed by said pawl when the latter is engaged with ya ratchet groove.

References Cited by the Examiner LAVERNE D. GEGER, Primary Examiner.

H. BELL, Examiner. 

1. AN AUTOMATIC SHUT-OFF NOZZLE FOR DELIVERING LIQUID TO A TANK, COMPRISING A BODY HAVING A LIQUID CONDUIT THERETHROUGH, A DISCDHARGE SPOUT, A CONTROL VALVE IN THE CONDUIT, A SPRING URGING SAID VALVE INTO CLOSED POSITION, A MANUALLY OPERABLE LEVER FOR OPPOSING THE THRUST OF SAID SPRING AND THEREBY OPENING SAID VALVE, A FULCRUM FOR SAID LEVEL CARRIED BY SAID BODY AND PERMITTED TO BE RELEASED FOR MOVEMENT AWAY FROM SAID BODY WHEN THE TANK IS FILLED, GUARD MEANS RIGID WITH SAID BODY AND DISPOSED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID LEVER FROM SAID VALVE, A RATCHET ARM PIVOTED TO A PORTION OF SAID LEVER REMOTE FROM SAID FULCRUM AND SUPPORTED AT ITS FREE END ON A PORTION OF SAID STRUCTURE, A PAWL PIVOTED TO A PORTION OF SAID LEVEL MORE REMOTE FROM SAID FULCRUM THAN SAID RATCHED ARM PIVOT AND HAVING ITS FREE END SELECTIVELY ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID RATCHET ARM, SPRING MEANS INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID BODY AND SAID LEVER INTERMEDIATE SAID FULCRUM AND SAID RATCHET ARM PIVOT SAID BIASING SAID LEVER AWAY FROM SAID VALVE SPRING OPPOSING POSITION WHEREBY, WHEN SAID FULCRUM IS RELEASED, TO CAUSE SAID LEVER TO PIVOT ABOUT SAID RATCHET ARM PIVOT AND LIFT SAID PAWL OUT OF HOOKED ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RATCHET. 